Fluidic device



Sept. 16, 1969 A. K. SIMSON 3,467,124

FLUIDIC DEVICE 7 Filed May 4, 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 66 5| I 62 11) Y Q 35 FIG. I.

INVENTOR FIG. 3. ANTGN K. SIMSON ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,467,124 FLUIDIC DEVICE Anton K. Simson, Glenolden, Pa., assignor to John P. Glass, trading as Cava Industries, Essington, Pa. Filed May 4, 1966, Ser. No. 547,554 Int. Cl. F15c /00 US. Cl. 13781.5 14 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A fluidic plate assembly comprising a pair of parallel plates, and sealing ridges extending from one plate and abutting and sealingly connected to the other plate, said ridges defining the elements of a fluidic device. A method of making the fluidic plate assembly comprising forming a base plate with ridges extending therefrom defining the elements of a fluidic device, placing a cover plate against the top of the ridges, and attaching the cover plate to the top of the ridges. A fluidic amplifier comprising an interaction chamber, an output passageway extending from the interaction chamber, a power nozzle for directing a lami nar power stream of fluid through the interaction chamber and into the output passageway, an output dump extending from the interaction chamber, a sidewall of the interaction chamber leading to the output dump, and a control passageway for directing a control stream of fluid into the interaction chamber to contact the power stream and cause it to become turbulent and to change its direction of travel and lock on to said sidewall leading to the output dump so that the power stream is cut off from the output passageway and enters the output dump.

This invention relates to fluidic and fluidic devices, and more particularly concerns a fluidic plate assembly and method of making it, and a fluidic amplifier.

The term fluidic refers to a field of technology that uses fluids, either gases or liquids, to perform functions. Fluidic units very often have no moving parts and are long lasting, and are less sensitive than comparative electronic units to temperature, corrosion, wear, shock, etc.

Conventionally, a fluidic unit such as an amplifier is made from two or three flat plates sandwiched together and held in fluid-tight engagement by screws, clamps, adhesives, or other suitable means.

If two flat plates are used, the passages, cavities, and orifices which form the fluid amplifier are constructed in one of the plates by etching, casting, milling, or other means, and the other plate is sealed to the first plate to cover these passages, cavities, and orifices.

When the sandwich type fluidic unit includes three plates, the center plate is cut out or shaped to provide the desired passages, cavities, and orifices, and the other two plates provide top and bottom cover plates for the center p ate.

However, the sealing of the fluidic unit from leakage has presented a considerable problem. It is diflicult to seal between the planar surfaces of the plates forming the fluidic unit.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a fluidic plate assembly having improved sealing against leakage.

It is another object to provide a fluidic unit which is easier to make, and in which the passageways may be positioned very closely together. In conventional units, where passageways are etched or cut into a plate, the passageways cannot be formed very closely together because of ditficulty of manufacturing and sealing problems.

It is another object to provide a fluidic amplifier which quickly responds to a control signal.

3,467,124 Patented Sept. 16, 1969 Other objects and advantages of this invention, including its simplicity and economy, as well as the ease with which it may be adapted to existing equipment, will further become apparent hereinafter and in the drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in top plan of a fluidic unit constructed in accordance with this invention with its cover plate broken-away for clarity;

FIG. 2 is a partial view in vertical scetion, on an enlarged scale, looking in the direction of the lines and arrows 22 shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a partial view in section, on an enlarged scale, taken as indicated by the lines and arrows 33 in FIG. 1, but taken before the cover plate was connected to the base plate;

FIG. 4 is a partial view in section of another embodiment of a ridge element; and

FIG. 5 is a view in top plan of another embodiment of the invention with its cover plate broken away for clarity.

Although specific terms are used in the following description for clarity, these terms are intended to refer only to the structure shown in the drawings and are not intended to define or limit the scope of the invention.

Turning now to the specific embodiments of the invention selected for illustration in the drawings, there is shown a fluidic plate assembly which forms a fluidic amplifier 11 and includes a base plate 13 connected in parallel relationship to a cover plate 15 by ridges 17 which define the elements of the fluidic device. Sealing ridges 17 extend from one plate and abut and sealingly connect to the other plate.

Fluidic amplifier 11 comprises an interaction chamber 19, an input passageway 21 which feeds a power stream of air or other fluid through a power nozzle 23 into interaction chamber 19, and an output passageway 25 that extends from interaction 19 in line with input passageway 21 and receives the power stream under some conditions of operation. The power stream from power nozzle 23 is laminar.

An output dump 27 is positioned to one side of output passageway 25 and extends from interaction chamber 19. Slanted side wall 29 of interaction chamber 19 is connected between power nozzle 23 and output dump 27, and straight side wall 31 of interaction chamber 19 is setback from power nozzle 23.

Control passageways 33, 34, 35 and 36 are positioned at the side of interaction chamber 19 and are adapted to direct control streams of fluid into chamber 19 to contact the power stream and cause it to become turbulent and change its direction of travel and lock onto sidewall 29 which leads to output dump 27, whereby the power stream is cut off from output passageway 25 and enters output dump 27.

The fluid which forms the power stream is fed into input passageway 21 through a conduit 37, which may seat a plastic tube passing through cover plate 15, and in input chamber 39 which empties into feed end 41 of input passageway 21.

The fluid which enters output passageway 25 is delivered to an output chamber 43 and passes out of chamber 43 through a conduit 45 in cover plate 15 or may connect directly to input chambers on one or more similar amplifiers. Excess flow which does not enter output passageway 25 is exhausted through overflow ports 46, which are symmetrically located on both sides of output passageway 25 in cover plate 15.

The fluid delivered to output dump 27 goes through dump chamber 47 and conduit 49.

The control stream of control passageway 33 is fed into the unit through a conduit 51 into a control chamber 53 and then to feed end 55 of control stream passageway 33.

Fluid is fed into control stream passageway 34 through conduit 56, control chamber 58, and feed end 60 of control stream passageway 34; fluid is fed into control stream passageway 35 through conduit 57, control chamber 59, and feed end 61 of passageway 35; and fluid is fed into control stream passageway 36 through conduit 62, control chamber 64, and feed end 66 of control stream passageway 36.

Screws 63 aid in holding the plates 13 and 15 together. Pressure pads 65 extend from base plate 13 and abut cover plate 15 and serve as a stop to space the plates apart a desired distance.

Ridges 17 are provided with sides 67 which extend from the base plate 13 and may slope toward each other. In practice, satisfactory results have been obtained where the slope of the sides is as small as 75 degrees from the sun face of base plates 13.

As shown in FIG. 3, ridges 17 include a top portion 69 which extends above pressure pads 65 before the plates are connected together. Positive sealing of all channels is obtained by the high pressure concentrations produced on the top portions 69 of ridges 17 as cover plate 15 is lowered to the level determined by pressure pads 65.

Additional stress concentrations may be obtained by the use of smaller secondary ridges 70 on top of primary ridges 17a, as shown in FIG. 4.

The method of making the fluid plate assembly of the present invention comprises the steps of forming a base plate 13 with ridges 17 extending therefrom defining the elements of the fluidic device, placing cover plate 15 against the top portion 59 of the ridges 17, and attaching the cover plate 15 to the top portion 69 of the ridges.

One way of performing this attaching step is to ultrasonically heat the ridges 17 so that the top portion 69, which forms ridge pressure points in contact with cover plate 15, melts and collapses. Then top portion 69 is allowed to cool so that it fuses to cover plate 15.

Ridges 17, 17a are flexible and deflect in assembly and form a high local stress concentration for sealing purposes.

Pressure pads 65 form a stop between plates 13 and 15 so as to limit the amount of melting of top portion 69 and space apart the cover and base plates 15 and 13 by a desired distance.

In operation, a fluid is fed through conduit 37 into chamber 39 and through feed end 51 into input passageway 21 from which it is delivered through power nozzle 23 into interaction chamber 19 as a power stream. This power stream is laminar and passes through chamber 19 into output passageway 25.

However, when the power stream is contacted by a control stream from passageways 33, 34, 35 or 36, the power stream becomes turbulent and locks onto sidewall 29. Accordingly, the power stream is immediately cut oil from output passageway 25 and is delivered instead to output dump 27.

The fluidic device of the present invention has the ad vantage of providing a positive seal. Moreover, a mold for casting base plate 13 is more easily made than a mold having recessed chambers formed therein, thus making the fluidic unit much easier to manufacture. Additionally, providing ridges 17 to connect plates 13 and 15, and also to form the passageways and chambers of the fluidic unit, provides for a much more compact fluidic unit because the passageways may be placed immediately adjacent to each other.

Fluidic systems, which include a number of fluidic amplifiers, are easily constructed by first making a single or multiple stamp of a complete amplifier base plate, stamping out amplifier base plate molds on a butfed piece of metal, interconnecting the amplifiers as desired by milling appropriate channels or passageways in the mold plates, casting amplifier base plates, and connecting cover plates to the base plates to form amplifiers.

and 36 converts the laminar flow of the power stream to a turbulent flow which entrains flow from the interaction chamber 19 and is thus drawn to the adjacent wall 29 of interaction chamber 19 and is dumped into output dump 27, the pressure at output passageway 25 immediately goes to zero; unlike conventional turbulent fluid amplifiers where the power stream changes from laminar to turbulent flow but does not change direction, and exhausts partly through the output passageway, whereby the output pressure lowers because the power stream is now turbulent, but does not quite reach zero.

Turning now to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 5, there is shown a fluidic plate assembly that forms a fluid amplifier 71 which responds more quickly to control signals than the fluidic amplifier 11 of FIG. 1.

The construction is very similar and includes a base plate 73 connected in parallel relationship to a cover plate 75 by ridges 77 which define the elements of the amplifier. Sealing ridges 77 extend from one plate and abut and sealingly connect to the other plate.

Fluidic amplifier 71 includes an interaction chamber 79, an input passageway 81 which feeds a power stream of air or other fluid through a power nozzle 83 into interaction chamber 79, and an output passageway 85 that extends from interaction chamber 79 in line with input passageway 81 and receives the power stream under some conditions of operation. The power stream from power nozzle 83 is laminar.

Output dumps 87 and 89 are positioned alongside interaction chamber 79 and are connected thereto by exhaust channels 91, 93, 95, 97 and 99 which are formed by sidewalls 101, 103, 105, 107, 109, 111 and 113, that extend from interaction chamber 79. The sidewalls slant away from the line between power nozzle 83 and output passageway 85. Sidewall107 is connected to one side of nozzle 83, and sidewall 101 is connected to the lower ridge of a control passageway 115. Control passageways 115 and 117 are positioned at the side of interaction chamber 79 and are adapted to direct control streams of fluid into chamber 79 to contact the power stream and cause it to become turbulent and change its direction of travel, locking onto the sidewalls which lead to output dumps 87 and 89. Accordingly, the power stream is cut off from outward passageway 85 and is immediately dumped into the output dumps 87 and 89, thereby giving a very quick response to the control signal.

The fluid which forms the power stream is fed into input passageway 81 through a conduit 119 in cover plate 75, and through an input chamber 121 which empties into input passageway 81.

The fluid entering output passageway 85 is delivered to an output chamber 123 and passes out through a conduit 125 in cover plate 75, or may connect directly to input chambers in one or more similar amplifiers.

The fluid delivered to output dumps 87 and 89 passes out through conduits 127 and 129 in cover plate 75.

The control stream of control passageway 117 is fed into the unit through a conduit 131 into a control chamber 133 which feeds control passageway 117.

The control stream of control passageway 115 is fed into the unit through a conduit 135 into a control chamber 137 and then to control passageway 115.

Screws 139 help hold the plates 73 and 75 together, and pressure pads 141 extend from base plate 73 and abut cover plate 75 and serve as a stop to space the plates apart a desired distance.

In the operation of fluid amplifier 71, a fluid is fed through conduit 119 into input chamber 121 and input passageway 81 from which it is delivered through power nozzle 83 into interaction chamber 79 as a power stream. This power stream is laminar and passes through cham- I ber 79 into output passageway 85.

When the power stream is contacted by a control stream from passageway 115 or 117, it becomes turbulent and locks onto the sidewalls. Accordingly, the power stream is immediately cut off from output passageway 85 and is delivered instead to output dumps 87 and 89.

What is claimed is:

1. A fluidic plate assembly comprising a pair of parallel plates, and sealing ridges extending from one plate and abutting and sealingly connected to the other plate, said ridges defining the elements of a fluidic device, said ridges being long in proportion to width and height.

2. The fluidic plate assembly of claim 1 wherein the ridges include a top portion which is fused to said other plate.

3. The fluidic plate assembly of claim 1 wherein a pressure pad extends from one plate and abuts the other plate, said pad serving as a stop to maintain the proper distance between plates and prevent unwanted crushing of the ridges.

4. The fluidic plate assembly of claim 1 wherein the ridges have sides which extend from the plate and slope toward each other.

5. The fluidic plate assembly of claim 4 wherein the ridges are flexible and deflect in assembly and form a high local stress concentration for sealing purposes.

6. A method of making a fluid plate assembly comprising forming a base plate with ridges extending therefrom defining the elements of a fluidic device, placing a cover plate against the top of the ridges, and attaching the cover plate to the top of the ridges.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the attaching step is performed by ultrasonically heating the top of the ridges causing the ridge pressure points in contact with the cover to melt and collapse, and allowing cooling of the melted top of the ridges so as to fuse them to the cover plate.

8. The method of claim 6 including forming a pressure pad on one of said plates, said pad being of lesser height than said ridges, and attaching the cover plate to the top of the ridges by diminishing the height of the ridges so that the pressure pad forms a stop and abuts against the other plate to space apart the cover and base plates by a desired distance. the interaction chamber, a sidewall of the interaction 9. A fluidic amplifier comprising an interaction chamber, an output passageway extending from the interaction chamber, a power nozzle for directing a laminar power stream of fluid through the interaction chamber and into the output passageway, an output dump extending from chamber leading to the output dump, and a control pas sageway for directing a control stream of fluid into the interaction chamber to contact the power stream and cause it to become turbulent and to change its direction of travel and lock on to said sidewall leading to the output dump so that the power stream is cut off from the output passageway and enters the output dump, said fluid amplifier having top and bottom of the amplifier elements defined by two parallel plates, and sidewalls of the amplifier defined by ridges connected between the plates.

10. The fluidic amplifier of claim 9, wherein the interaction chamber is provided with two sidewalls, and said sidewall leading to the output dump connects to one side of the power nozzle, and the other sidewall of the interaction chamber is spaced away from the power nozzle.

11. The fluidic amplifier of claim 9, wherein a plurality of control passageways are provided.

12. The fluidic amplifier of claim 9, including an output dump on each side of the interaction chamber.

13. The fluidic amplifier of claim 12, including an exhaust channel extending from the interaction chamber to each output dump, said channels being formed by ridges extending from the interaction chamber.

14. The fluidic amplifier of claim 13, wherein said ridges slant away from a line between the power nozzle and the output passageway, and a plurality of exhaust channels extend from each side of the interaction chamber.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,030,979 4/ 1962 Reilly 13781.5 3,047,942 8/1962 Schneider et al. 156-73 XR 3,061,422 10/1962 Sato 156-73 3,114,390 12/1963 Glattli 13781.5

3,176,571 4/1965 Reader 137-815 XR 3,234,955- 2/1966 Auger 137-81.5 3,269,419 8/1966 Dexter 13781.5

3,282,280 11/1966 Horton 13781.5 3,302,004 1/ 1967 Eckert et 2.1.

3,326,463 6/1967 Reader 13781.5 XR

OTHER REFERENCES Multiflow Boundary Layer Switching for Document Selection, J. E. Lovell, I.B.M. Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. '8, No. 4, September 1965, pp. 560, 561.

SAMUEL SCOTT, Primary Examiner 

